This invention relates to composite multilayered structures and particularly to a method and apparatus for separating the top surface of the multilayered product into discrete areas by removing strips of the top or outermost layer between the areas to thereby expose a substrate therebetween having substantially different properties than the top layer.
In the manufacture of complex composite structures which are adapted to conduct electricity over the surface thereof, the electrically conductive surface must be separated into electrically segregated areas so that the electrical current flows through only selected portions of the top surface in a desired manner. An example of such multilayered complex structures is described and claimed in the inventor's copending application Ser. No. 669,473, filed Nov. 8, 1984, which is directed to a metalized or metal plated plastic support frame suitable for use in illuminating or examining devices such as laryngoscopes having battery-operated, light generating means.
As described in the inventor's above-identified application, the support frame is a very complex structure which is formed by injection molding of a plastic material such as a platable grade of acrylonitryl-butadiene-styrene (ABS). After molding, the entire surface of the frame is plated one or more times with conductive metal and then strips of the metal coating are removed in order to electrically segregate areas of the plated top surface. Preferably, the frame is molded with ridges in those areas in which the plating is to be removed to electrically segregate the adjacent plated areas. This allows the ridges to be mechanically removed after plating and along with such ridge the metallized layer. The ridge removal exposes the underlying non-conducting substrate which electrically segregates the adjacent metalized areas.
Because of the complex structure of the frame and other similar structures, the manual removal of strips of the top metal layer is very tedious and time consuming. Moreover, such metal removal is subject to operator error in either not completely removing the metal between two discrete areas or removing metal from an area in which none should be removed.
There are presently no available simple devices which can readily remove strips of coating in the manner required by components having complex shapes. The present invention provides such a device and a method of removing such strips.